Alternative Fuel and Related Links

Information about alternative fuel vehicles and related links will be found here. What are alternative fuels? The United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) has defined alternative fuel as:The following fuels are defined as alternative fuels by the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 1992: pure methanol, ethanol, and other alcohols; blends of 85% or more of alcohol with gasoline; natural gas and liquid fuels domestically produced from natural gas; liquefied petroleum gas (propane); coal-derived liquid fuels; hydrogen; electricity; pure biodiesel (B100); fuels, other than alcohol, derived from biological materials; and P-Series fuels. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy may designate other fuels as alternative fuels, provided that the fuel is substantially non-petroleum, yields substantial energy security benefits, and offers substantial environmental benefits.

The Los Angeles Police Department is testing new vehicles for their fleet including the Tesla Model S and the BMW i3.

Clean Cities 2015 Light-duty Vehicle Buyer’s GuideThe U.S. DOE has created a light-duty vehicle buyer’s guide that will assist you in making a decision about a new car purchase. This guide provides a comprehensive list of the 2015 light-duty models that use alternative fuels or advanced fuel-saving technologies.

Alternative Fuel Tools and Programs

California Energy Commission - Drive The California Energy Commission has established the DRIVE web page that is a great source for information on California’s alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle technology programs. Projects selected for program funding accelerate the development of the alternative transportation fuels through the improvement and commercialization of existing and emerging alternative fuel vehicles and their related infrastructure. Funded projects include commercial vehicle demonstrations and deployment, vehicle manufacturing, fuel production and research of innovative technologies. Additionally, critical functions such as outreach and marketing, workforce training and studies that focus on sustainable industry practices reinforce the goals of the program.

DriveClean.ca.gov is California's buying guide to the cleanest, most efficient vehicles on the market. As a subsidiary website of the California Air Resources Board, the site provides smog and global warming scores for every vehicle in California, from the newest vehicle models all the way back to the year 2000. Californians can search and compare vehicles in a variety of ways, find incentives available in their area, and learn all about advanced clean and efficient vehicles. Become DriveClean’s friend at Facebook.com/DriveClean for updates on the newest advanced technology vehicles coming to market.

eGallon is the US DOEs interactive tool that lets you compare the costs of fueling electric vehicles versus driving on gasoline. The eGallon provides a metric that is easily comparable to the traditional gallon of unleaded fuel which is the dominant fuel choice for vehicles in the U.S.

The California Environmental Protection Agency / Air Resources Board has established The Truck Stop, a webpage to assist operators of trucks with their search for funding and assist their navigation of the rules, regulations, and requirements of operation within California. Please find information about clean air requirements for: diesel vehicles; trailers; diesel-fueled transport refrigeration units (TRU or REEFER units) and TRU generator sets that operate within California. All diesel fueled trucks, buses, trailers and transportation refrigeration units operating in California, including those based out of state, are required by regulations to take steps to reduce air pollution. A truck owner can answer a few basic questions about his or her fleet and get a personalized list of regulatory requirements and potential funding options, from that list they can access more specific information about only the regulations and funding programs that apply to their unique situation. The site is designed primarily for the fleet owner but the information is also useful for the truck dealer, lender, air districts and others in the trucking community. The California Air Resources Board has established a Diesel Hotline at 866-6DIESEL (866-634-3735).

Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP) rebates of up to $5,000 per light-duty vehicle are available for individuals and business owners who purchase or lease new eligible zero-emission or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The CVRP is funded by the California Environmental Protection Agency's Air Resources Board (ARB) and administered statewide by the Center for Sustainable Energy (CES). A leader in alternative fuel transportation planning and programs in California, CSE has issued more than $146.5 million in CVRP incentives for some 70,200 EVs and helped to educate hundreds of thousands of Californians on the availability and benefits of zero-emission vehicles since the rebate project’s inception in 2010.

The California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) is a unique and streamlined program to help speed the early market introduction of clean, low-carbon hybrid and electric trucks and buses. HVIP is administered and implemented through a partnership between the California Environmental Protection Agency's Air Resources Board (ARB) and administered statewide by CALSTART (which was selected by ARB via a competitive grant solicitation).The HVIP is designed to offset the incremental cost of eligible hybrid and battery-electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles using a simplified purchase voucher. HVIP provides a meaningful "kick-start" to the low-emission hybrid truck and bus industry; it has helped deploy over 1,700 vehicles over the course of its existence, growing the nation's early market hybrid and battery-electric truck volumes by over 30 percent.